Power Rangers Mythic Knights: Crossed Lights
by FlameAmigo619
Summary: Prequel leading to Season 2 of Mythic Knights. With Vance suffering from the trauma of what happened with Arcana, a new individual in his life may have the answer and the light on his path to recovery. (READ SEASON 1 IF YOU'RE CONFUSED.)
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello peoples, I have returned with a little prequel story that introduces a brand new character for Season 2. I can promise she's not a Mary Sue, she has importance like everyone else. I can say this prequel will serve a purpose, as will another spin off, don't worry. Anyway, onwards!**

**CROSSED LIGHTS  
PROLOGUE  
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY ZAK KAYES**

Running. That's all Vance knew at this point. Run as fast as you can…but only as fast as the nightmares will let you…

The darkness covered the cloudy skies over the Meadowborough Woods, blocking the light from the moon. With no light to guide him, Vance Archer was left in the near pitch black to fend for himself. It wasn't the first time he had found himself in the dark woods. His eyes adjusted to his surroundings as he ran as fast as he could, straight through the maze of trees into the distance. He had no idea where he was going, all he knew was that he was being followed and he dare not look behind him.

"Not again…" he said through pants, trying to control his ever growing heart rate. "Why is it always here? Why is this happening to me!?"

With the blink of an eye, Vance found himself skidding to a halt in front of a very familiar lake, the water being the only real source of light from the moment, like flashlights being reflected. He looked down at his reflection, staring at it for a moment before noticing it start to change, becoming pure black. Vance stepped back and watched the shadows rise from the reflection, forming a ball of darkness. It slammed into Vance suddenly, skidding him back. Vance looked up to the ball and stared at it as it began to manifest into a figure wearing a black cloak and Vance's eyes widened upon seeing the hood drawn back. It was him.

"W-what…?" were the only worlds crossing Vance's lips.

The doppelganger suddenly charged and began to attack with swift punches. Though panicked, Vance was able to dodge a few, countering one attack with a punch of his own. Vance followed up with two kicks but his next attack was caught and he was back elbowed in the nose .His attacks were having seemingly no effect. His doppelganger began hitting punches to his ribs and served an uppercut that sent Vance flying. The doppelganger leaped and drove both his fists down on Vance's stomach, driving him down into the ground. Vance tried to get up but was grabbed by his shirt, yanked up to look himself in the eyes.

"You can never escape…" it said, Vance's own voice heard though heavily distorted.

Vance was suddenly thrown away, rolling on the ground before getting up suddenly. He got into a defensive stance, eyes darting around as he could hear the sound of distorted laughter. Right as he turned around, the last thing he saw was his doppelganger charging with the Cursed Blade.

~!~!~!~

His eyes suddenly popping open, Vance sat up in his bed in a cold sweat, his breathing ragged and his muscles tensed. He couldn't remember how long he had been out for but he knew he was still tired, despite the burst of adrenaline.

"Cut me a break with these…" he muttered to himself, trying to get out of bed.

He moved over to sit on the edge and shook his head slightly, hand brushing through his hair as he tried to flush his nightmare out of his bed. Eyes peered over to the clock; the display read 11:12 PM.

"4 hours. Better than none I guess."

Only three weeks had passed since King Grieger had been defeated and after Vance's abrupt departure from the group, he quickly made up for lost time and picked up on a few offers he had passed up for money. Within those three weeks he had done four different collaborations and finished two songs, receiving a hefty sum of money to help out around the house. With his absence, he was dropped from his job at the Sundraville Times. He was grateful to find a temporary job back with the paper route; at least with his dirt bike he was a little more effective. With not much else to do, he looked around and changed his attire. He usually went with a red tank top and jeans but he decided to switch it up, going with a blue hoody, blue jeans, and a black tanktop.

Liam sat downstairs in the recliner, only arriving home three hours previous. He was aware of all the situations that had happened since Arcana's return. Since then, Vance was distant and once Grieger had been defeated, Vance had become quieter, often staying in his room for long periods of time, only to come down for breakfast or dinner. Vance walked into the living room and decided to sit on the couch, watching the television.

"Look who decided to come down from their cave." said Liam. "Dinner already got served."

Vance didn't make eye contact. "Sorry. Writer's block."

"The usual then?" Liam looked to Vance's light nod. "Something on your mind you want to talk about?"

"Not really."

"Vance." Vance turned to finally make eye contact. "Would it kill you to say more than two words? I heard you upstairs. This is the third night in a row. How long's this going to go on before I have to call help?"

"You really think that's gonna do anything?"

"Well, it's certainly worth a try."

Vance's attention went back to the TV. "…what are you watching?"

"The news." said Liam with a smile. "You know since Grieger's been defeated, there's barely been any attacks or warnings. And when there is an attack, your friends get on the news. I'm surprised they aren't getting bashed for trying to help the city."

"They are. You just don't check Tumblr or FOX news." Vance slowly got up to go into the kitchen to find something to eat. He noticed a number on the home phone and picked it up, looking at the number, then rolling his eyes.

"JT's been trying to call."

"So I've noticed. Not interested."

Liam got up from his chair and went straight into the kitchen. "Are you really going to stay mad at him forever Vance?"

"Last I checked I'm not mad, I don't care about him. Secondly, I have more important things to do—"

"Like sit upstairs trying to put together a song? You can't just hide in there to avoid your problems."

Vance had his back turned but his eyes narrowed. "I'm not hiding, dad. I'm handling my things on my own."

"He's just concerned about you, like the others." Liam's voice turned into slight concern. "Curtis especially, he stopped by yesterday while you were out."

"Good to know there's one person I HAVEN'T ruined yet."

"You can't view it like that Vance. For one thing, I should be the most concerned. You're up in your room all the time and you act like you don't even care about anything anymore. You have to stop feeling sorry for yourself and let things go."

"You weren't there, dad. You didn't see half the shit I did or saw. I felt like it was all one giant nightmare I couldn't escape from. I hurt them, bad. And you know what bugs me the most? I could have stopped but Quintin was right, there's something inside me that makes me almost comfortable with darkness."

"My son is the Red Knight Ranger, not one of Arcana's Black Knights. You survived and escaped from him."

"Yeah but at what cost? I KILLED people, dad. In that warehouse, I have never felt that scared. Quintin was one of my best friends and I got him right through the chest with a pipe, do you have any idea how terrifying that was!?"

"You're not the only one who was scared Vance. I would not be able to live with myself if I lost you to Arcana. I know you did what you could to save Alexis and take down Grieger but you KNEW that would come with a price and you understood it, otherwise you wouldn't have done it. And seeing how you are now? I know it's going to take a while to get over what happened but you have to not let it control your life."

Vance sighed and turned his body back to look at Liam, arms crossed lightly over his chest. Liam walked over and held his son close to him.

"I love you, kiddo. But you need some help."

Vance chuckled lightly, hugging his father back. "Yeah I know, I know…I think I'm gonna get some fresh air."

"This late?"

"It's cool out tonight. I'll be back in an hour; I'll have my phone on okay?"

Liam looked down at his son and watched him head upstairs and come back down with his helmet, heading for the door. "Vance?"

Vance's hand was on the doorknob and he looked back. "Yes dad?"

"Be careful out there, alright? You never know what's gonna happen at night."

Vance nodded and gave a thumbs up before opening the door and leaving, heading for the garage and his dirt bike.

~!~!~!~

He knew it was a bad idea but how else would he get fresh air? It almost always seemed to work for Vance when he got writer's block. So maybe this would work, he thought. There weren't very many cars around this time at night and the only real light source was his headlight, the street lamps, and the headlights of other cars in the distance. As he kept up the straight line through the backstreets of West Meadowbrough, he heard a whisper through his ear and the headlight on his dirt bike began to flicker. When it suddenly shut off, Vance skidded to a stop and looked around quickly. One by one, the street lights began to turn off till it was almost pitch black.

_**yoU Can'T esCAPe…**_

He could feel his heart rate increase as he turned his head around.

"Come on, not now. I'm awake. I'm awake. I'M AWAKE!"

_**sLEEp cAnnoT sAvE YoU…**_

Vance immediately turned his attention back to the end of the block to see the same figure from his nightmares standing there. His vision began to get blurrier and he could swear every blink of his eyes brought the figure closer. Shaking it off, he revved the engine of his dirt bike and made a straight beeline to it. He drove as fast as he could, passing through the figure like mist. The mist began to give chase to Vance, pursuing him and trying to get ahead of him.

_**RuN LIttLe bOy…**_

He could feel the mist almost wrapping around his head and he shook it off, passing through an intersection and just barely avoiding traffic. Time seemed to slow down and his surroundings began to change with every blink of his eyes. The whispers began to get louder as he rounded another corner. He had no idea where he was going but he was shocked to find himself in the woods with his dirt bike, forced on a dirt path straight forward. His instincts kicked in as he was able to navigate around his surroundings, everything changing back to the city streets when he turned another corner.

_**NEVER FORGET…**_

Vance's vision returned and he found himself in the middle of an empty intersection. The lights had returned and he looked around quickly. There was no sign of the figure that had been following him so he breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a truck horn ringed in Vance's ears and he turned his head, seeing a big rig heading straight for him. With little time to react, he jumped off his dirt bike and landed on his back, the truck smashing into his dirt bike and sending it flying. Vance watched this in confusion before slowly getting up, seeing what remained of his ride.

"…god damnit…" he muttered under his breath.

With not much choice, Vance began to walk his bike home. Too much had already clouded his mind and he sighed quietly as he walked.

"Well? Anything you else want to throw at me?" he asked, head up to the sky. "Just once, I wish I had SOMETHING to turn things around. I don't care what it is, who it is, or when it is. Just give me a sign or something, alright?"

Silence. Vance stopped for a moment as he looked up to the sky and noticed some of the clouds were clearing to reveal some of the stars. They looked brighter than usual so Vance took the time to examine them.

And that's when he heard it.


	2. Voice of an Angel

**CROSSED LIGHTS  
CHAPTER 1: VOICE OF AN ANGEL  
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY ZAK KAYES**

It was far away, almost faint. But he COULD hear it. Music? At this time of night? Walking with his dirt bike, he found the source: a karaoke bar. He had been a regular there for some time before he became a Knight and became less of one when he was busy. He looked behind him momentarily to double check his surroundings before parking and locking his dirt bike, heading inside. The atmosphere was what mattered most to Vance when he visited Kringo's. It was a two year old establishment with a karaoke stage in the back and, to many people's surprise, it was mostly a soda bar.

As Vance entered, he felt a sense of nostalgia and was greeted by some familiar faces, some of his fans from his YouTube work, and the bartender who he knew personally. Everything seemed the same, like opening a time capsule, but there was something very different, specifically the young woman on the stage singing. He knew there were a few people in the past that had taken the stage for fun and he knew just about all of them except for the woman. Her long black hair floated down to the back of her neck, over her open teal button up t-shirt. Underneath was a lime green tanktop, tucked in under the brown belt on her black jeans.

"Been a long time since I seen ya, Archer." said the bartender.

"Same to you, Kringo." said Vance, still looking at the girl on the stage. "She seems familiar. Is she a regular here?"

"Yep. She's my barback." Replied Kringo. "She's been working here these past few months. Course you would know that if you showed up once in a while. Where you been, man? You look like you haven't slept in days."

Vance sighed, leaning against the counter and looking up at him. "I got sidetracked. Majorly sidetracked. I got caught up in some stuff I shouldn't have but it's all taken care of."

"Right." he responded. "Well, what can I get for you?"

"One root beer and the name of the lady on the stage, please."

"You don't know her?" said the man next to Vance. "That's Celeste Harris, man. She's here all the time now."

"…she's AriaRhapsody on YouTube, right?" asked Vance.

"Yeah, man." replied the man. "Why? You know her?"

"Wish I did." he said. "I mean I've seen her stuff, she's good."

The man scoffed. "Dude, ya kidding me? She's better than half the chicks on the radio!"

Vance took his root beer given to him, watching Celeste sing Out Tonight from RENT. He nodded his head lightly to the beat, amused to hear every note she hit right. When she finished everybody applauded, Vance included. Celeste made her way back to the bar and the bartender served her a Fanta.

"Excellent work, Celeste." said Kringo.

"Thanks!" she said excitedly, taking a long sip of her soda and smirking, a little bounce in her step. She turned her attention to Vance after a moment, tilting her head slightly. "Don't think I've seen you around here before."

"I was going to say the same to you." he replied to her, turning his head to her.

She extended her hand to him. "Celeste. Friends call me Celly. Or Cel, whatever works."

He shook her hand and nodded. "Vance. You did good up there. How long have you been singing?"

"Uhh, pretty much since I first learned to talk. It's one of those things you just learn, like riding a horse."

Vance raised his eyebrow. "Isn't a bike easier?"

"Not for me, it isn't." she giggled. "Those things aren't as tamed as I thought they would be."

"If I hadn't broken mine, I could show you it. It's a dirtbike."

She leaned on the counter. "What happened to it?"

"Uhh…it kinda got mauled by a truck."

Celeste made a face. "Yikes. I'm sorry, hun. Bet you wish it didn't get hit huh?"

"Oh there's a hundred things I wish." he said. "But yeah, that's one of them."

She nodded, taking a sip from her soda. "So, what brings you here?"

"I needed to get my mind off some things. Get some fresh air, that sort of thing."

"Well you picked the right place to be here."

Vance looked away slightly. "Only reason I came in here was because I heard you."

Raising an eyebrow, she giggled slightly. "Yeah, that doesn't sound odd at all. I didn't know it could bring people in."

"Well you seem to be somewhat popular here." he said with a chuckle.

"So are you." she said, lightly nudging his shoulder. "I noticed some people talking to you. They seemed pretty excited. Are you on YouTube too?"

"Yeah, actually. I'm CaballeroDelFuego."

Celeste blinked. "Wait that's you!? No way!"

He smirked slightly. "I take it you know me then?"

"I'd be uncultured if I didn't. Your music's awesome and my friend is a HUGE fan of yours."

Vance was flattered, he thought for a moment he was blushing. "I'm glad my music's still relevant. I think I've actually seen your stuff, in glances at least."

"And seeing me live has changed that?" she asked, giving him a curious look.

His smirk turned more into a smile, a genuine one. "You had my curiosity but now you have my attention. And that doesn't happen often."

"Well then." she put her drink down. "How about we make things more interesting tonight then?"

"How so?" he asked, watching her move a book towards him. "…enlighten me."

She pointed to an empty slot. "There's an empty slot here because a guy who was showing up tonight cancelled. And he was supposed to go on after this next set. Sooooo…there's a spot right here with our names on it, if you're interested."

Vance looked down to the slot, then to her, then to the stage, and back to her. "…I see no harm in it. Any ideas on what sort of song though—"

"Good Time by Owl City. You've covered that before, right?"

He nodded. "I haven't done any singing in quite a while. Not that I'm rusty or anything."

"I bet you are." she said in a teasing tone, scribbling their names down. "Tell you what. If we impress one another, we buy one another a drink."

Vance stood up straight and looked at the stage. "And if we don't?"

Sifting through the crowd, she looked back to see Vance following and joining her on stage. "There isn't a don't, spiky."

Nodding, Vance looked through the selections and noticed people were beginning to notice the both of them. Selecting the song on the machine, he set everything he needed up before looking at her and nodding.

"Alright, what's up everybody!?" said Celeste, grinning at the reaction she got. "Soooo as some of you have noticed, a certain individual has returned tonight for one night only. Does the name CaballeroDelFuego ring any bells?"

Vance was pleasantly surprised to hear the reaction and rubbed the back of his head, feeling nervous for the first time in a while. He hadn't felt this particular rush for some time.

"Sooooooo Vancey, what are we going to do tonight?" she asked.

"Uhh, anyone familiar with Owl City?" he asked, crowd responding with cheers. "That's what I thought. Forgive me, I'm a bit rusty, but I think some of you remember Good Time. I don't usually do duets so might want to get those camera phones out."

"Shall we?" she asked, shooting him a grin.

"…yep."

When the music began to play, a switch flipped inside of Vance's head. For quite a while he had only worked with just instrumentals but this was the first time in a while he had sang. Any doubt he had with his abilities was seemingly erased when he began to lead the song. Granted he wasn't perfect, he received quite a number of compliments. The song was designed as a duet and when Celeste took over, he felt another rush take over.

Soon they both began to get more into the song, moving to the beat of the music, not just performing for the crowd but performing for one another, looking towards one another and acknowledging with nods. The entire bar was getting into the song, actually singing along with them as they continued on. For the first time in quite a while, Vance felt free. Music always had an interesting effect on his mind. He actually felt genuinely happy getting to perform again. Watching the reactions, he didn't care how small the crowd was. He was having fun.

When the two finished, the entire bar applauded and cheered, actually chanting Fuego and Aria. Celeste looked to Vance and shot him a thumbs-up and Vance smiled, returning one of his own. They both got off the stage and were both surprised to be getting tips from some of the crowd members.

"Uhh, you sure you wanna like just give money?" asked Vance. "I mean I don't really deserve it—"

"Dude, you DO earn it." said one of the crowd members. "You've earned all those subscribers. Welcome back."

Vance, looking to the other members, gladly accepted the money and pocketed it, heading outside to start heading home. When he went outside though, his jaw nearly dropped. His dirtbike, previously ruined, was back in its original form, still locked up. It looked like it hadn't been mauled. He turned and was about to head back in but stopped when he saw Celeste heading out.

"…did you do something to my bike?" he asked her. "How did it just fix itself? Did you have one of your friends help?"

She shook her head. "Why are you assuming it's me? It's fixed, isn't it?"

"Yeah I wished it did but I wasn't expecting it that quickly." he rubbed the back of his head and thought for a moment. "…how about I give you a lift home? I mean if you are heading home."

"That's sweet of you. I'll take you up on that." she said, deciding to join him and slowly sat on his dirtbike.

"Where do you live?" he asked, giving her his helmet.

"12 Tilliman Road. East Meadowborough." she pointed to the east. "That-a way."

Nodding, Vance revved the engine on his dirtbike, looking ahead as he proceeded to take her straight home. In the back of his mind, he felt like something would happen but to his surprise, he didn't sense any darkness or any strange vibes. Everything felt normal, and normal was a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. Navigating through the streets, he eventually made it to the apartment complex and parked on the sidewalk.

Celeste got off and gave Vance his helmet back. "Thank you."

"Not a problem." a smile crossed his face. "You did amazing tonight, by the way."

"The feeling's mutual. I can see you having an awesome future on the stage."

"Yean, here's wishing. One day one of us going to make it. We're both looking and wishing for that big break. " he chuckled. "Add that to the list. Maybe if I wish for a 360 in my life it'll happen?"

"Trust a wish. It'll come true. Are you alright?" she asked, tilting her head. "I mean, are you gonna be able to sleep properly tonight?"

"What makes you think I won't?"

Shrugging, she crossed her arms. "Well I can sense it in you; you needed something like tonight to feel good and confident about yourself. And for being rusty or whatever you said, you belted tonight. I was honored to perform with you."

Vance nodded. "Well do you ever want to work on something together?"

Thinking for a moment, she took out a scrap of paper from a notepad in her pocket, scribbling something and giving it to him. "There. That's my number if you're interested. I don't know about you but I'm beat."

"So am I honestly. You get some sleep, alright?"

She nods. "You too, spiky. Here's wishing you'll have a good night. I'll see you around."

Vance watched her head up the steps and go safely into her apartment before putting his helmet back on, adjusting it and looking at the time. He texted his dad and quickly made his way back home, feeling like finally things were turning around.


	3. Opportunity Knocks

**CROSSED LIGHTS  
CHAPTER 2: Opportunity Knocks  
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY ZAK KAYES**

The moment Vance got back home, he immediately got himself ready for bed and laid quietly under the sheets, eye closed. For the past few days, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't sleep. It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was that sometimes the nightmares would take over when he least expected it. Tonight was different. Within five minutes, he had drifted to sleep. He awoke the next morning to the scent of bacon downstairs. Slowly he sat up and rubbed the back of his head, looking at his watch and staring at it.

"Noon? How long was I out? Eight, nine hours? At best?"

He quickly changed some of his clothes and yawned, heading downstairs. In the kitchen was Liam cooking bacon, eggs, and toast alongside Curtis.

"Thank you for helping with breakfast," said Liam. "I'm terrible when it comes to doing it myself."

"No problem, sir." said Curtis with a smile. He turned when he heard Vance coming downstairs. "Hey buddy! What's up?"

"Um…nothing much I guess." said Vance, sitting down. "Don't you have saving the city or beating monsters to deal with?"

"I think all that can wait so I can check up on my best friend." said Curtis, getting the toast and butter out. "Assuming of course you don't have an everlasting grudge on me."

Vance shook his head. 'Why would I have anything against you?"

"Just curious."

Liam checked on the eggs and then checked the fridge, pausing. "…crap. I must have forgotten to get milk yesterday. Uh…would you mind handling this Curtis?"

"Sure, no problem Mister Archer."

Liam patted Curtis' shoulder. "Just Liam, Curtis. I'll be back in a little bit."

The two watched as Liam left, leaving the two alone as Curtis served them both, sitting next to him.

"So…you mind telling me what's up?" asked Curtis. "I haven't heard from you in a while. No texts, no callbacks, nothing."

"I've been busy." replied Vance, eating quickly.

"Vance there's a difference between busy and taking two seconds to answer a text—"

"Or ignoring one sent every 5 minutes and having their number blocked." said Vance, matter-of-factly.

"Dude, JT's just concerned about you."

Vance paused. "…good for him. I have more important things on my mind. Like someone I met last night."

"Someone you—" Curtis paused, looking at him. "…guy or girl?"

"Girl. Her name's Celeste. I met her last night at Kringo's."

Curtis tilted his head. "What made you want to go back there? You told me you haven't been there in a while."

Vance paused eating and looked at him. "Something about last night seemed different. I've been having a string of nights where I can't seem to sleep, I have these flashes of something I don't even recognize, I keep seeing the forest…and today I woke up like nothing happened. How does that even happen?"

"Don't look at me, I'm not the one with the PSTD right now." Vance shot Curtis a look. "No offense. But what did you two do?"

"We…did a duet together."

Curtis raised an eyebrow. "With a stranger? That doesn't seem like you."

"I felt like giving it a chance. We did an Owl City song and I gave her a ride back, she gave me her number and wished for a good night, and—…"

"And?"

"Wish. Last night I almost got hit by a truck and my bike got ruined. I told her, she asked me if I wish it hadn't got hit, and I said yes. And then I went outside and it looked good as new."

"…woah."

"And then she wished me a good night. And what happens this morning? I wake up without a problem. Doesn't this seem odd at all?"

Nodding, Curtis continued to eat. "You're right, it doesn't seem like a coincidence. Were there any other wish related topics she talked about?"

Vance shook his head. "Not that I could think—wait, there was something else. I wished both of us would find our big break one day."

"Hm. You think maybe she's a demon?"

"What kind of demon grants peoples wishes? That doesn't make much sense. You think it could be an item? Or maybe she's some sort of genie?"

Curtis shrugged. "Beats me. Tell you what, I'll take a look at the Archives at the base and tell you if I find anything."

"Sounds good." said Vance, almost jumping when he felt the vibration from his cell phone. Pulling it out, he read over the text and his eyes widened slightly. "…it's from Drake."

"There's a shock. He rarely texts anyone." said Curtis with a chuckle. "So what's he want?"

"Come to Kherick Industries, I have a special surprise for you." he said, putting the phone down. "…you don't think?"

"Hey man, it's worth checking out."

Vance nodded and quickly finished the rest of his food, cleaning his plate.

"Well, I'll see you later then? Thanks for the breakfast!" said Vance, looking at Curtis.

"I'll keep in touch."

Grabbing what he needed, he quickly headed outside and double checked his dirt bike, texted Drake back, and made his way to Kherick Industries.

~!~!~!~

At roughly the same time, Celeste had made her way a couple of blocks away from her apartment to another complex downtown. Under her arm was a McDonalds breakfast bag and she fixed her hair, touching the buzzer by the side of the entrance door. She had modified her outfit, taking off the button up t-shirt and adding a little fedora for herself.

"Yeelllooo?" said a voice with a British accent.

"I bringeth food, Todd!" she said in her own mock accent. "Unless you want me to throw it all the way up there, let me in, foxy!"

The door made a buzzing sound and Celeste opened it up, quickly heading upstairs to the second floor and knocking on room twelve. The door opened and a male leaned against the door frame. He had blonde spiky hair to match his bright blue eyes. He was a few inches taller than her, wearing a brown t-shirt with a black fox on it and camouflage jeans.

"I could smell that all the way from the bathroom." smirked Todd. "What'd you bring?"

"What did you wish for?" she replied.

He playfully pawed at the bag. "Hotcakes, sausage, hash browns, egg mcmuffin, times two for both of us?"

"…I spoil you." she smirked, going to the table and pulling out the food for him. "Here ya go."

"The Todd approves." he said, getting plates, drinks, and utensils from the kitchen. "Sorry I wasn't there last night. I was out—"

"I know, raving with your furry friends." she smiled. "It's fine."

"But I'm making an effort to see you next time. Tell me when, I'll jot it down. I'll be the goofy cheerleader with the fox ears cheering you on."

Celeste giggled and nodded before looking upstairs. "Your boyfriend isn't around is he?"

"Nope." he shook his head and began to eat some of the hashbrowns. "He's working today so I got the whole place to myself so I can work on my new stuff in peace. Why? You don't have to hide in here."

"I know." she stepped back and stretched, making her body glow a faint teal. She took off her fedora and fox ears appeared on her head. A hole appeared near the back of her jeans and a tail slowly materialized. Celeste sat down and sighed in relief. "Ohhh it feels SO much better to have these out."

Todd smiled as he lightly played with one of the ears. "You're lucky you can just wish them on and off at will. I wish I had permanent ears and a tail."

"And then have people call you a freak and get burned alive?" she replied, ears going down. "I've seen what people in this time do to spirits like me. I'm not immortal."

Todd nodded. "So, dish girl dish, how did things go last night?"

"Actually better than I thought. Let's just say a certain someone made it NOT boring." her tail flicked slightly, ears perking up.

Todd tilted his head. "You meet tons of people at the bar, who'd ya meet this time?"

"Vance Archer."

Whatever drink Todd had in his mouth he almost spit it out as he looked to Celeste with wide, surprised eyes. "WHAT!? WHEN, HOW, WHAT'D YOU TALK ABOUT!? GIVE ME THE DEETS, GIRL!"

"Relax, relax!" she laughed. "He was just there to get his mind off of some stuff. Soooo…I talked him into doing a little impromptu duet with me?"

"DUDE! That's freakin lucky! What else did you two talk about!?"

Celeste blushed slightly as she continued eating. "Well nothing really. I guess we um…flirted a bit? And he gave me a ride back home, asked if I was interested in working with him, and I gave him my number?"

"Do you have ANY idea how lucky you are Celly!?" Todd's smile grew. "You just got to talk with a legend! That's awesome though getting to perform alongside him. You should totally get on that offer. I mean how often does CaballeroDelFuego ask you if you want to collaborate. Imagine that. CaballeroDelFuego, AriaRhapsody, FoxtrotAlpha, ALL of us working together! We could finally kick that mean old artist block in the face with that much awesomeness!"

"I could see that for sure." she said, finishing her hashbrowns. "I was gonna grab some stuff I needed from my home and then see if we could meet up, in any way."

"That's my girl-friend." he chuckled. "Not like girlfriend but my girl that's my friend, you know?"

"Whatever works, I'm still getting adjusted to these modern times. But…I think he MAY be onto me."

Todd tilted his head. "How so?"

"You know how I am with wishes and wanting to help people…"

For once Todd's expression changed. "Wait, you mean you granted a wish of his?"

"…maybe more than one or two?" she giggled nervously. "Just simple stuff though, I can't help it. I want to see him happy; I could sense something terrible had happened so maybe in some way this could make things better?"

He sighed quietly. "Cel, we talked about this. You need to keep a low profile just in case something happens right? What if people find out your secret?"

"Should I tell Vance then?"

"In my experience it's better to tell the truth sooner rather than later."

Celeste nodded and the two finished their breakfast. Celeste got up and yawned slightly, watching Todd.

"I'm gonna head out then." said Celeste. "I'll stop by your place later tonight, okay hun?"

Todd nodded. "Take as long as you want. I'll get off my lazy, fuzzy butt and work on some music. Be careful with Fuego, alright?"

"Always."

~!~!~!~

It didn't take long for Vance to get to Kherick Industires. As he approached the building, he paused momentarily. Memories begin to fill his head of the last time he had visited the area, reminding him of the day he found out the truth about his family and the day of the attack. He shook his head to clear his mind and began to head inside, making a straight line for Drake's "office." Entering the elevator he looked at the VIP panel and put his hand on a scanner, letting it scan his hand and light up the buttons for the upper floors.

As the elevator door opened, Vance made his way through the cubicles but stopped suddenly as another memory passed through his head: his fight with Quintin. He didn't want to be reminded of one of the scariest fights in his life, having no morpher or powers to fight off an enraged, twisted monster that used to be a close friend. He slowly turned his head to one particular window. It had been fixed but he could still see Quintin and himself falling through into the warehouse. No one was in the office so he walked in and paused, looking down to see the remnants of the warehouse. It was in the middle of being rebuilt. Once again, flashes appeared of the final fight and its sudden ending.

"Vance?" asked a voice.

The flashes stopped as Vance turned around to see a familiar face in a black business suit: Drake Kherick.

"…Drake."

Drake motioned behind him to his office. "My office is here, man. You alright?

'Um…yeah." Vance nodded, deciding to follow Drake back to his office. "So I got your text and I'm still surprised to know why you would want to talk to me."

Drake sat down in his chair and looked to the newest edition to the office, in a glass case, the XSCGP Trophy. "When I got back from winning the XSCGP I not only received the admiration and respect that I earned and deserved, I also received a hefty sum of money. I took about half of it and decided to put it into a little pet project and said project just so happens to involve you, Vance Archer."

Vance raised an eyebrow. "Your offer, I take it?"

Drake nodded and dug into his desk drawer, taking out a small folder and opening it, showing a piece of paper. "Have a look for yourself."

Opening up the folder, Vance looked through the document before his eyes widened slightly, jaw slightly going down. "Wait…sponsorship? Tour? …is this a contract?"

"Well in a matter of speaking, yes." said Drake with a smirk. "Think of it like a gold ticket with no strings attached. Go ahead, read the whole thing."

Nodding, Vance sat back slightly. '…how did you get your hands on this?"

"Let's just say I pulled a lot of strings. They don't call me a million dollar marionette for nothing." Drake chuckled. "Nobody calls me that. But still!"

"No strings attached." said Vance to himself. "So what exactly does this entail? And why me? I'm a YouTube Brony musician with not a huge amount of success."

"Well think of it as a chance to expand your audience and prove you can handle the stage. Which I'm sure you can. That contract guarantee's a nationwide tour with two out of nation destinations of your choosing. Four months with twenty stops, expenses are paid of course by the sponsorship. There's a lot of technical stuff so you're free to look through it. No loopholes or chances of getting screwed on my or your part. And you ask why you? Well the way I see it, I see a chance to mix business with something you love."

"…explain?"

Drake sat back in his seat, hands neatly folded. "Simple. It's a win-win situation. You get your chance to finally see what it's like to make what you love on a bigger scale. Me, I get to try something new and help make someone a star like me. You get to have your first tour, showing CaballeroDelFuego to the world."

Vance sat back, looking over the contract. "Hm…still doesn't quite answer my question."

"Your dad has always spoken highly of you. This was mostly his idea, you know? I want to see ya succeed and if I have the means to help you, then I want to do it. Money's not an issue, alright? So don't feel bad or feel you have to pay me back. All you need to do is two things. One, have fun out there and prove how awesome you are \. And two, you're going to need to put together some form of band. Two to three people I believe. I'm sure you can figure that out right?"

"That doesn't sound so hard."

Drake nodded. "Exactly. So all you have to do is sign and get your little band together a week from this Sunday and then you're golden. IF you don't think you're ready, this contract will always be open for you. Just know that opportunity doesn't knock all the time."

Drake was right and Vance knew this. He looked down at the contract and reached for a pen on Drake's table. He had one final look through and looked at Drake. His name was written once all the doubt was erased.


	4. Who Are You?

**CROSSED LIGHTS  
CHAPTER 3: Who Are You?  
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY ZAK KAYES**

It didn't take long for Vance to return back to Celeste's apartment. He was rather eager to tell Celeste about the recent news. As he rode on his dirt bike he couldn't help but feel this was connected, it didn't feel like a coincidence any longer to him now. Getting the contract was what he "wished" for. As he rounded the corner, parking and locking up his dirt bike, he turned to see Celeste heading the sidewalk towards him.

"Good timing!" said Celeste, walking over to him. "I was about to go out and look for you."

"Then it's a good thing I found you first." he said with a smile, taking off his helmet.

Celeste crossed his arms and smirked slightly. "You certainly look happy. I don't think I've seen a brighter smile on anyone."

"Could we go inside, if possible? It's better than roasting in the heat."

Celeste nodded and motioned Vance inside, both of them heading into her apartment. Vance didn't know exactly how to describe her home but it certainly wasn't in the slums. The walls were white with a couch, coffee table, and television with a bookshelf and a rack of DVD's and video games. She made her way into the kitchen which passed by the doors leading to the bathroom and her bedroom.

"Make yourself at home." she said, looking through the fridge. "Want me to get you anything?"

"Water sounds good." he replied.

She returned quickly with a glass of water and sat next to him, making herself comfortable. Vance smiled at her.

"Listen." he started. "I wanna thank you for last night. I have to admit, I haven't felt that kind of rush in ages."

"You don't need to thank me, Vance." she giggled. "Getting the chance to perform with you, I should be saying thank you to YOU. I know what that rush means, you know? Being able to perform for those people, wanting to entertain, it's almost indescribable. And as long as you love doing that, that's what matters. I mean when I first started out, I wanted to make something of myself. I got a few roles, mostly supporting. It took a while but I made it. Two Sundraville musicals and I got my share of the spotlight."

"What was it like?" he asked, leaning against the couch. "I've always wanted to be up there."

"Well to be fair hun, it is NOT as glamorous as they say. I've read all the stuff about celebrities and what they do behind the scenes, most of the so-called stars are assholes anyway."

Vance smirked. "So I've heard. Showbuisness and greed are a nasty combination. At least on YouTube it isn't as chaotic, right?"

Celeste shook her head. "Thankfully. Did you sleep alright?"

"Let's say I got a good night's sleep for once." he said, sipping his water. "Whatever you did, I hope I can have that more often."

Celeste smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about, hun. All I think you needed was a good time and a reason to smile. That can do wonders, right?"

"Well to some, yes…if you wish for it, apparently."

Celeste giggled nervously when Vance gave her a look. "So uh, you wanted to tell me something?"

"Well rather I want to ask you something." he said, putting the glass down.

"Alright but In exchange, I want to ask YOU something."

Vance nodded. "Well, do you believe in chance?"

She tilted her head. "Chance? What about it?"

"Luck, odds, spontaneous events that go in your favor, that sort of thing. I've always believed that certain things happen for certain reasons and that you can't just wish for something and it can instantly happen." he took in a deep breathe, putting the words together. "Yet last night I wished for a few things and they happened. Some people call that extreme coincidence, even wishful thinking. But what happened last night, the way you just wished for something, I've had that on my mind for a while."

Celeste looked away, pausing before looking back to him. "…I understand that's hard to believe but maybe I can make something that seems complex simple. So…in a weird way, your answer to your question is a question I want an answer to."

"Nice little circle." he said with a nod.

"What do you think of the supernatural?" she said with a light grin. "Not the show, the supernatural in general. Magic, ghosts…spirits perhaps?"

"What are you trying to get at?" he asked. He had his own suspicions and as a Knight, he had seen just about everything. The only problem now was if she was on the "right" side.

"Well what if I told you that thoses wishes last night WERE because of me?"

He knew it. "How? Do you have some sort of item that lets you grant peoples wishes like a rabbits foot or a magical four leaf clover—"

"I'm a spirit."

…okay, he did NOT see that coming. "Wait, what? Like a genie or something?"

"Not exactly. " she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Alright then, prove it."

"Wish for something. Anything."

He smirked slightly and looked at the table. "….a plate of pancakes."

A poof of teal smoke appeared on the table and a plate materialized with pancakes dripping in syrup. Vance's eyes widened as he stared at them. He went into the kitchen, keeping his eyes on the plate and stuck a fork into one of them. He brought it into his mouth to taste and his eyes widened.

"Good huh?" she said.

"…how are you able to do this? Last thing I want to do is abuse your powers but I want to be sure." Vance paused for a moment then smirked. "I wish for a samurai sword."

A samurai sword suddenly appeared in Vance's lap after some smoke.

"…what other kind of new tricks do you have up your sleep?" he asked with a bright smile.

And this was her chance. She decided to do simple tricks like changing a lamp into a book, the television into a chair, changing them back to normal, and changing Vance into a stuffed teddy bear and back.

"Okay." Vance said, smiling at her. "THAT is cool. Has anyone ever abused your powers?"

She shook her head as she set things back to normal. "Well thankfully, no. My friend I mentioned to you, he's FoxtrotAlpha on Youtube, I helped him out with a few things using my um…I guess you can call them powers?"

Crossing his arms, he nodded. "Foxtrot rings a bell somewhere. But if you have powers, what does that make you? A superhero?"

"Like the ones in those scriptures." she said before thinking. "…I mean comic books. I'm not immortal but I possess powers that I never really understood until much later. What I can tell you is that I have no intention of hurting anyone because, if I can use Foxtrot's words, with great powers—"

"Comes great responsibility." he finished.

"Those were my mother's words. When I learned I had this incredible gift, I thought I could solve everyone's problems but I was told that I can't do EVERYTHING."

"So there are rules then?" he asked.

"I can't wish for pain upon people and by extension I can't kill or murder anyone. I can't travel though time and I can't change nor alter things in the past. Lastly, I can't bring back the dead under any circumstances. I can try and make sure they DON'T die but I need to be there and they need to wish for it."

Vance paused, letting the words stick in. "…and….you're human right?"

"As human as you are with um…a few modifications?" she said, suddenly wishing her ears and tail into existence.

"W-woah!" he scooted back slightly, unsure what to make of the ears. "…you're a…fox spirit?"

"…it's a long story." she said, rubbing the back of her head. 'I'll do my best to tell you what I know…and hope you believe me because I don't know how to properly prove it all."

_My story begins centuries ago in a time where things were very different. My ancestor, Aliana, was an ancient fox spirited created by a king. Every spring the town she resided in threw a festival in her honor and in return she gave to them healthy crops and food to survive the seasons. She was a pure red fox, often talked about in high regard by the villagers. She could grant wishes to them with the same limitations I have. She met a man named Grey and the two formed a connection. They fell in love, as the story goes. She decided to give herself a human form for him and became mortal in the process. She was human with long flowing black hair, bright emerald eyes, and she only had fox ears and a tail. They were happy together and the town gladly accepted them. Until one day, there was a great tragedy The village was attacked by savages and many people died, including Aliana and Grey. The only survivor was their child, Aria. Using magic, Aria was able to escape and keep her mother's power by passing through time, ending up in our present time. I saved her and she passed her secret to me so no one could find her. If they found her, she would have no idea where I am. Thus, I hold Aliana's power._

Vance could see everything in his head she was saying, every detail and every action. He wanted to question the story because he had a feeling he knew which town she was talking about. Many possibilities raced through his head but he knew he couldn't say anything, at least not yet.

"…well that certainly beats any origin story I could come up with." said Vance with a smirk. "And I can't say it's a lie because I SAW you use your powers."

"I always thought mine was boring." Celeste giggled, watching him. "But I still want to hear yours, mister man of mystery."

Vance nodded. How to tell a story without telling all the details he couldn't? "Well there's really not a lot to tell, Cel. Single dad, I've grown up in West Meadowborough most of my life with a good education and a minimum wage job as a paperboy."

"Like a messenger, right? Delivering the news no matter what?"

"Basically. I guess I'm kind of boring if I wasn't an amateur musician then." he chuckled.

Celeste shook her head, playing with her hair lightly. "No. I wouldn't say that. I think it depends on the person's personality and whether or not you can be comfortable with them. I think that can matter in any situation. I mean you would have to be a really good judge of character to read someone and predict who they are."

"Why do that? It ruins the surprise." he said, looking into her eyes. "…besides, I like to be full of surprises. And one of those is me asking if you would be interested in going somewhere and paying for you like a gentleman."

She blinked. "You want to ask me out?"

"Yes. And that, to be honest, is something I don't really do often."

Celeste had a moment to think but she chuckled. "Give me some to think on it alright, spiky?"

"You love that nickname, huh?"

"I do, it's very cute. Give me time to think and get to know you more and we'll see where your offer stands later, alright?"

Vance nodded. With any luck, the offer would still stand and his first date in ages would be worth it.

~!~!~!~

Vance spent the rest of the afternoon and some of the evening at Celeste's, talking with her and getting to know more about her. They did some karaoke together and watched a movie with ordered pizza. He was careful not to wish for many things and didn't want to make her uncomfortable. When the night rolled around, Vance decided to leave, deciding he would come back after work.

Getting on his dirt bike, he looked at Celeste from the window and smirked. "Sleep well, fair maiden of the night!"

Celeste rolled her eyes and waved, closing her window. Vance smiled and put his helmet back on, revving the engine and heading out into the night. He knew it was a terrible idea but this time he was ready. Driving through the night, he could see the stars shining brightly in the sky.

"Finally, a non-cloudy night." he said to himself.

_**LigHt CAnNoT sAVe yOU…**_

The moment Vance heard the voice he turned his head slightly and stopped his dirt bike, looking around. Nothing.

"You really think a little girl with a made up story is going to save you?" said a voice.

Vance knew where he was, on one of the backstreets with no cars in sight. He moved the dirt bike to sidewalk and took a breath, turning around to see the doppelganger from before standing across from him. Vance, though wary, approached him and stared into his eyes.

"I'm not afraid of you, contrary to what you may be believe." said Vance. "You can play all the mind games you want but I am NOT going to let you beat me. It's going to get old with the voices and using my face to freak me out."

The face began to distort in front of Vance and he clutched his ears, hearing the sound of static in his ears. He almost dropped to his ears but he shook it off only to get a jump kick to the face that sent Vance flying and landing on his back. When Vance got back up his vision began to get blurry and he began to see different colors. He groaned as he clutched his head, feeling a throbbing in his head. Everything began to change and he found himself almost in pure darkness. He saw the doppelganger charging and this time was ready, charging and leaping with his knee to clobber him in the face. The doppelganger took the blow and got to his feet, cracking his neck.

"You amuse me but you can only fight back against the Virus for so long…" said the Virus, charging up a dark fireball in his hands. "And this is ONE fight you won't win."

"But I know you're not real." said Vance, looking around for some kind of weapon. "And that gives me one advantage. You got one over me but now I got one over on you! I WISH FOR MY RED KNIGHT MORPHER!"

For once the Virus was stunned and he stepped back, suddenly drawing the Cursed Blade and charging at Vance. He leaped and tried to stab Vance but the morpher showed up and protected Vance, causing a blast that knocked the virus back. The Virus looked up to see Vance taking the morpher in his hands and thrusting it forward, his body glowing red with flames that glowed white to change into his armor.

"You wanna fight me now, Virus!?" he yelled, getting into a stance.

The Virus glared and suddenly charged but Vance was ready, zipping forward to hit a knee to the Virus' gut and a roundhouse kick to his head that knocked him away. Vance extended his hands and created a circle of fireballs, throwing them at the Virus. He dodged but a few got him and stunned him. Vance rushed in and hit various punches and kicks, grabbing the Virus and slamming him into one of the cars. The Virus tried to hurl fireballs but Vance was strong, blocking them with a fire shield. Leaping through the fire he hit one strong punch that sent the Virus skidding back.

"I'm just getting fired up!" he yelled, getting into another stance.

The Virus watched with an irritated look on his face before smirking. "Even with your precious little morpher, what hope do you have to protect the ones you love?"

Before Vance could reply, the Virus vanished. Vance's vision began to get blurry but when it returned to normal, he was standing in the middle of the street like nothing had happened. Vance looked down at his hand and saw no morpher. There was no damage that happened.

It was all in his head...


	5. First Date

**CROSSED LIGHTS  
CHAPTER 4: First Date  
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY ZAK KAYES**

Six days had gone by faster than expected for Vance and Celeste. They made a point to talk every day, whether it was on Skype or actually meeting face to face. They would stay up late sometimes with Todd to enjoy one another's company. Getting past Todd's fanboygasms, he and Vance got along well. One day they met to record a song featuring all three of them and some of Celeste and Todd's friends who could provide extra instrumental accompaniment: Rika and Xavier. They were both happy to work with the three to record one cover of Fascination by Alphabeat and decided to arrange a time to film a music video for it.

The days rolled by and Vance and Celeste began to spend more time together, both of them often staying at Celeste's for the day after Vance got off work. Eventually the two settled on their first date. They threw many ideas but eventually they settled on one nightclub in Sundraville called Hot Six, a furry rave club that Todd would often go to, invitation only. Both Vance and Celeste arrived at Hot Six with their invitations from Todd at ten in the evening.

"It was nice of Todd to get us these invitations." said Celeste, getting off of Vance's dirt bike. "We could have just had Todd drop us off here."

"It's not that far from here, don't worry." said Vance with a bright smile. "Let's just focus on having a good time alright?"

Celeste nodded and they both entered the establishment. On the outside, it had a local feel to it with a classic neon sign of a black fox with the words Hot Six under. It was a concrete building that had sort of a trendy vibe to it. Upon entering, they heard the funky beats coming from the surround system and the crowd of people, fursuiters and non-fursuiters having a great time dancing to the beat. If this wasn't a rave Vance thought, then he clearly needed to get out more. There was a DJ in the back, fist pumping with the beat of the music. Vance recognized her almost immediately, noting the wolf ears that belonged to Rika.

"Can't even hear yourself think, can ya!?" yelled Celeste over the music.

Vance moved his ear towards the sound of Celeste's voice. "What!?"

"Exactly!" she laughed, grabbing Vance's hand and taking them out to the dance floor.

Everyone was having fun so who was Vance to deny the chance to relax? Celeste was determined to make Vance's night interesting and she laced her arms around his neck, looking up into his eyes. The music was blaring but the beat was almost hypnotizing. It took a moment for Vance to realize someone had remixed one of HIS songs and he smirked slightly, deciding to let the music take over and guide his movements. Once the bass dropped and the glow sticks came out, adrenaline kicked in while they both cheered and danced the night away.

The next set closed and Vance turned his head, almost jumping back when he saw a fursuit head in his face. He was briefly confused before suddenly everything went silent. He thought maybe the music was too loud but he couldn't even hear the ringing.

_**TIcK tOcK VaNCe…**_

Vance suddenly held his head in his right hand, shaking off the feeling. The music was slowly returning in his head and his eyes returned to Celeste.

"Vance!?" she asked, concerned.

Vance looked up and his eyes widened slightly, the fursuit heads were starting to look more…real. Some were growling, some had their fangs exposed, snarling at him. He stepped back and he could begin to hear the whispers once more.

"Shit, not here…please not here…" he said to himself, trying to overpower the whispers with the music.

Celeste nudged him. "Vance! What's going on, hun? You don't look so good."

"F-fine…" he said, his expression very confused and overwhelmed. "G-gottta get out…"

Celeste had her hands on Vance's arm but was confused to see him pull away, heading off in a random direction.

"What the hell?" she said to herself, waiting for a moment before following him.

The noises in his head began to increase; he could feel electricity tingling through his brain. The nightclub had a kitchen area as it doubled as a restaurant on the weekdays. He hadn't noticed Celeste following him as he stumbled his way into the kitchen, plugging his ears in hopes to silence the noise.

_**SiLEncE CaN NOt SavE YoU…**_

Celeste was right behind Vance. "Spiky? Come on, snap out of it! What's wrong!?"

"Nonogetoutofmyhead…get out of my head!" he yelled, clinging to the tables in the back to try and support himself.

"Shit, u-umm I wish you would snap out of this!" she said, touching his head. To her shock, her magic had no effect on him. "You've gotta be kidding me…hun, snap out of it!"

To Vance all her words were having no affect. In fact to him, all the words were just coming out as distorted static, sounds that were actually terrifying. His vision became blurry again and when he looked up to see the people in the kitchen were distorted as well. He thought he could hear Celeste but when he turned around, all he could see was Ziara staring at him.

"Vance! Come on, listen to me!" she yelled at him. "You're really starting to scare me!"

Vance grabbed for the nearest thing he could find, a pie, and growled. "LEAVE. ME. ALONE!"

Pie in hand, Vance turned and slammed the face into what he believed was Ziara. It wasn't until a few seconds after hearing a yelp and the sound of something crashing did he realize something was wrong. Instead of Ziara, Celeste had fallen over and a pot of chili had landed on her. Not only was her outfit ruined by the chili, the pie in her face had made things much worse.

"…C-Celeste I—"

"What the hell was that for?!" she snapped, looking up at him.

Vance was on the "But that wasn't, I-I wasn't aiming for you, I swear!"

There was a clear look of anger on Celeste's face. Vance was about to try and talk but Celese had had enough, storming out of the kitchen through the bike way. It was raining outside but the alleyway they were in had some protection. Vance was quick to head outside and see that she had wished her outfit was clean again.

"Celeste look, I'm sorry—"

"Sorry?" she said suddenly, turning around to look at him. "Sorry can't even cut what I just saw, Vance. You scared the hell out of me there."

He sighed. "I know, I didn't mean for that to happen."

"I knew something was wrong earlier today." she said, arms folded. "You sounded stressed on the phone and then when we meet, you seemed out of it. What's been going on with you?"

"It isn't your concern." he said, trying to change the subject.

"Umm, I'm pretty sure it is when someone I care about starts having a mental breakdown on our first date." she went to him and touched his cheek gently. "Was it too overwhelming for you? I know that's how it was for Todd when he first came here."

"Cel, I'm sorry." His tone became sincere. "I am really REALLy sorry this happened but I'm fine, there is nothing wrong with me."

Celeste's eyes narrowed. "…I wish you would tell me the truth."

Vance blinked then sighed. He knew there was no way out of this one. He had to tell her the truth but doing so would result in her having her mind wiped…so he had no choice but to tell a different story. It WAS the truth but only from a certain point of view.

_Years ago I had the best group of friends I could ask for. Quintin West, Curtis Wilson, and JT Collins. We stuck together and had one another's back. I could trust them, they could trust me. Quintin was a firm believer in standing up to people who messed with him, Curtis wanted to help people less fortunate than him, and JT…he wasn't the smartest. He'd go off and pull pranks, mess with people, and expect me to pull him out of it. I thought the good times would never end…but fate had different plans. Quintin got transferred and I lost contact with him and Curtis left to go to this place called Lightspeed. I made a promise to look after Quintin but I made a mistake by neglecting him in exchange for JT, trying to be there for him and help him. By the time I realized my mistake, Quintin came back angrier than ever and he wanted some form of "revenge" against me. He bullied JT, not understanding why he had been replaced and JT went too far with a prank, humiliating him, and turning the entire school against him. One day, I heard that something had happened to our high school. It had been blown up by a large explosion…and I found out Quintin had done it with some crazy dark magic sword. I fought against him but he stabbed me and when he did, he put some sort of dark magic in me. It made me start to lose it, mentally, and I snapped at my friends…and a lot of people got hurt. I had to fight Quintin yet again but this time it was a fight to the death. I had no choice but to kill him and I just barely survived. I thought I could save him…and ever since that day I've been seeing things, hearing things…and it still haunts me._

Celeste listened intently to every word, eager to know each part of the story. She had known there was something wrong with his aura for some time but couldn't figure out why. Now she knew and it was starting to make sense.

"…damn." she said quietly. "I didn't know it was that bad. But I wished you would have snapped out of it and nothing happened. I don't understand why."

"I don't know either." He said, taking her shoulders in his hands. "All I know is that it may be getting worse and the last thing I want to do is hurt you Celeste in any shape or form. Enough people have suffered because of me."

"Is it because of the scar?" she asked.

Vance blinked. "…what scar?"

She touched his chest gently. "This scar. The one on your chest right over your heart."

"How do you even know about it?"

"Um-…I kinda took a peek when you were showering?"

It was Vance's turn to blush but he shook it off and sighed quietly. "Maybe you should stay away from me for a while—"

She shook her head and looked into his eyes before leaning up and kissing him gently. Vance, unsure what to do, decided to kiss back, a hand going to lay on her waist before she broke it off.

"Not a chance, spiky." She said, giving him a reassuring look. "You can't handle or tackle this all on your own. If it's getting worse, you need people that won't leave your side. I want to help you, Vance. But only if you let me, alright? It's hard but I'm here for you. So is Todd, Rika, and Xavier. Honest."

"…right." he said, lightly nodding and sighing. "Sorry. I didn't mean to ruin our first date. I should probably be getting back home."

"Don't worry about it." she said, touching his cheek. "We can go back to my place. I may know a way you can make it up to me, though."

He looked away "…I don't think I can right now. This got a little too real for me, I'm sorry."

Celeste looked at him, trying to look directly at him but to no avail. "…you're not gonna just throw it all away are you?"

"No, why would I?"

She pat his cheek. "Just checking. You sure you don't want to stay?"

He nods lightly. "I'd rather just get back home and try to sleep this off."

"Alright. If you're sure, you're still my ride home."

"I know."

_You're mine too…_


	6. Anger Subsided

**A/N: This chapter may or may not spark some controversy with the Knights. All I can say is that everything happens for a reason and since I like to shake things up, this will surely do so. Will it have certain effect on someone's relationship later on? Ohhhhhh yes.**

**POWER RANGERS MYTHIC KNIGHTS: CROSSED LIGHTS  
CHAPTER 5: Anger Subsided  
WRITTEN BY ZAK KAYES**

Since Grieger's defeat, things around the Knight Ranger Base had been unusually quiet. No longer was it full of activity from the six Knights and their mentor. Now all that was left was Curtis, Sondre, and Terretto. Neither of the two remaining Knights seemed to notice. With the only real problem being rogue Demon Generals sneaking out of the Nether, Curtis was the only one hanging out at the Knight Ranger Base during the day. Someone had to be ready at all times, he thought.

Down in the archives, Curtis had been searching via Vance's request for any information on if Celeste's story was true. The archives were like a mini library, almost as big as the living room upstairs. Shelves adorned the walls with scrolls and various spell books. There were two tables with chairs around them, a few pedestals on the side with open books, and various maps hanging from the wall. He had been searching for an hour, looking through the history section for any mention of the story. Sitting down at the table with various books, he closed one and yawned. Looking over to his watch he noted the time, three in the morning.

"Looking for something?" asked a voice from behind.

Curtis almost bolted up and turned his head, surprised to see the a certain spiky, silver haired loner leaning against the door frame by the stairs.

"...don't you have a city to look out for?" asked Curtis with a slightly cold tone in his voice. "You're not even here around this hour."

"You can't save everyone." replied Sondre, walking over to him. "Dad told me that. He advised I start readjusting my sleep schedule and not focus on roaming around the city at night. Plus…I figured you could some company."

Curtis scoffed. "I'll pass. Not gonna sleep tonight anyway."

Confused, Sondre leaned forward and sniffed, drawing his head back after. "…have you been drinking?"

"Does it matter? Nobody's here to tell me I can't." Curtis shook his head and reached for a bottle on the table.

Sondre's eyes wandered to the bottle and his expression slowly changed into concern. "I highly doubt drinking is going to make things better, Curtis."

"Yeah? What would you know about it?" Curtis' toned changed, filled with more sarcasm. "You got some kinda secret way to deal with pain that I don't know about? Cuz if you do, oh wise and powerful Shadow Knight, lay it on me!"

Sondre didn't respond. He sighed quietly and moved to sit down next to him. "You've been at this for quite a while. What is it exactly that you're looking for?"

Curtis was about to make a remark but chose not to. "Vance wanted me to look into some story some chick told him. Something about foxes and wishes and someone named Aria. Well I've been looking through these stupid archives and I've found only a few rare mentions of Aliana, Grey, or Aria mostly because I can barely read most of this."

Looking over some of the text, Sondre moved his fingers over some of the words. "Well…I can decipher most of this. But where exactly have you looked?"

"Right on this wall, gonna start that one tomorrow." said Curtis, pointing to the wall on the left and then to the right. "Right after I finish off the bottle."

Sondre stood up and walked to the other wall, gazing over the scriptures on the shelves. "Maybe you won't have to. You mentioned Aliana, correct?"

"Yeah, she's some sort of fox wishing spirit that made all the harvests good or something."

After scanning with his eyes, Sondre reached into one of the stacks and opened it, showing it to Curtis.

"Found it?"

"Yes. I should have guessed it was under spirits." said Sondre, skimming the page.

Curtis relayed the story that Celeste had told Vance to Sondre as they read, checking over any bits they may have missed before getting to another scroll, reading what had happened after.

"There's a list of the dead." said Curtis, pointing. "Aliana, Grey…Aria?"

"It says they weren't able to find the body. She was presumed dead." Sondre turned his head to Curtis, giving him a puzzled look. "Why did Vance want to know about this story?"

Curtis shrugged and walked away. "Beats me. Mystery solved, I'm going to bed."

"Curtis." Curtis stopped but didn't turn his back. "…how long are you going to keep this act up?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"No. You do. Ever since we defeated Greger, the day after, I began noticing different things." Sondre crossed his arms after standing up. "You've been avoiding me for the past few days minus when we're out fighting the leftovers. I've been observing you to make sure you weren't doing anything reckless besides drinking. So how long is that going to go on?"

"First off, Sondre, I don't have to answer to you or anyone else." Curtis' eyes narrowed as he turned back to Sondre. "I could be asking you what YOU do on your nights. Probably checking up on your old master—"

"Assuming things will lead you nowhere, Curtis. And I do not like being assumed."

"Yeah well I don't like when my team mates sleep with my girlfriend."

Sondre froze. Normally things wouldn't phase him. This time, it did. "…so that's what all this has been about? No, actually, I don't think it is."

"Stay of my head, Halfling…" Curtis' tone became cold, suddenly.

"I don't need to go into your head to see what going on…you can't come to terms with the fact that YOU broke up with Gale, not the other way around."

Curtis' eyes widened. "HOW THE HELL—"

"I hear and see everything in this base the same way my father can, Curtis. And I know what I've seen with your drinking habits and your ramblings. You're not the only one whose been heavily affected by Arcana's stratagem." Sondre reached out and touched his shoulder. "…I'm not your enemy. I can sense and FEEL the anger and hate for what has happened, with you, me, and Gale. But I know it goes much farther than that, right up to where I first showed up…that day at the zoo with the Scythe and Praxis. And right now there is only one thing on your mind…"

The White Knight paused before taking another swig from the bottle. "…things were better before you showed up. Had you not, none of this would have happened Sondre—"

"No." Sondre interjected. "Arcana planned all of this from the start, all from what is written. I always questioned what he knew, if he had somehow time travelled into the future or if he somehow knew all of this was going to happen. But…from what JT told me, he seemed legitimately scared when he was about to die."

"…so if JT had enough strength to pull off the Roaring Thunder…"

"Then Arcana would have been defeated. I can imagine only someone like JT would be the one to disturb a natural line of events. But Arcana is still out there. He got what he wanted from us."

Curtis folded his arms. "What, to completely shatter the team? Yeah, he sure did a great job with that. We've got nothing left."

"We still have one another." said Sondre with a reassuring look.

Curtis looked into his eyes with an eyebrow rased. "Since when have we EVER been friends? You almost single handedly ruined my life. I was better off without knowing you.

Sondre's eyebrow raised next. "…is that what you really think or is there something you're not telling me?"

There wasn't much use hiding anything, Curtis knew this. He also knew he had gotten quite a lot to drink. His mind was already feeling lightly buzzed. "I'm the only one left here by myself a lot of the time. But hey, that's how life goes right Sondre? You end up alone in the end because, guess what, everybody leaves. Gale's gone off on her little quest of self-discovery, Vance just up and left because he's feeling sorry for himself, Alexis and JT are on their cutsie-wootsie little globetrotting adventure, and your dad has done JACK since Grieger's defeat! All he's done is sleep up in his room, barely doing anything—"

"…you're tired of being alone?" Sondre interjected again, changing the shape

After a moment, Curtis nodded. "Everybody's gone. With all that's happened…I'm honestly thinking about just quitting. Just leaving, packing my bags, and never coming back."

Sondre's eyes narrowed causing Curtis to step back slightly. "Look me in the eyes Curtis and tell me you would do that. You'd be abandoning everyone here for your own selfish needs. Where could you possibly go?"

"Anywhere would be better than here." said Curtis. "Maybe I could go back to Lightspeed. They could always use a mechanic to fix their Zords…maybe they'd let me back on their team?"

The Shadow Knight shook his head. "No. Running away from your problems is never the answer, that's why I came back in the first place. I don't want to see you like this Curtis. No one does. Let me at least try to help."

Curtis scoffed, reaching for the bottle but Sondre stopped him and the two met eyes for the moment. Slowly Sondre moved Curtis' hand off the bottle. And then the Shadow Knight decided to do something very uncharacteristic. He leaned in before Curtis could protest and put his lips to the others. Curtis froze. He could hear voices in the back of his head screaming but they were muffled by the buzz in his head. It lasted just shy of ten seconds before the two locked eyes again. Curtis, for the first time in a while, smiled lightly.

"…w-well then…" said Curtis, clearly embarrassed. "The guy who slept with my girlfriend that caused me to break up with her apparently has the hots for me."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that." said Sondre, rubbing the back of his head. "I just wanted to offer some help."

Curtis smirked. "If that's just a sample, why do I feel like there's so much more to that? How do I know I won't just be a chewtoy to you. Why?"

Sondre actually had to pause for the moment to come up with an answer. "Because through all of this, I have considered you an ally and a friend, someone I can trust and someone I know who will have my back. These days, I don't really have that many people I can trust or rely on because I'm always trying to do things on my own. But I can't do that, it's just not possible. It's not efficient and it will only stress you out till anyone can walk over you in a fight."

"I can see that I guess." said Curtis. "But there have been times where I've despised you for what you did to Gale and what you and Arcana have done to my life. So how can I find anything good out of that…and in the way I feel you may be pushing for, why should I go along with it?"

"Was I demanding for anything to happen? No." he said, turning back to the scrolls in the pile on the table. "I was just hoping to bring a smile to your face."

"Mission accomplished I guess." he chuckled before noticing one of the pictures in the pile and pulling out his phone. "Hold on a second. Can I see that pic for a second?"

"Trying to change the subject?" asked Sondre, handing the picture over to Curtis.

Curtis brought up a picture that Vance had sent of Celeste and then looked to one of the pictures of Aria that had been documented, his eyes widening shortly after glancing back and forth. "Wait a minute…you don't think…?"

Sondre's eyes glanced back and forth between the two pictures before nodding slightly, patting his shoulder. "Never doubt the possibilities. You should let Vance know."

As Sondre left, Curtis was quick to suddenly take Sondre's wrist. "Woah there, where do you think you're going?"

Sondre was about to say something until Curtis dragged him back, taking him into another kiss, this time more passionate. Sondre obliged this, this time for much longer till they broke it off.

"You sure you want to do this?" asked Sondre.

Curtis nodded. "I haven't got much to lose now that you're here…friend."

Those were the words Sondre was looking for. Finally.

…just not in the exact way he was expecting.


	7. Aria

**POWER RANGERS MYTHIC KNIGHTS: CROSSED LIGHTS  
CHAPTER 6: Little Aria  
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY ZAK KAYES**

Through most of her childhood, Aria prided herself on her magic. She had learned the most basic of spells thanks to her mother, Aliana, and worked hard around the stables with her father, Grey. Needless to say, despite having a good family, her life was far from perfect. Rather, it had become almost the same thing every day. That was until she caught word of her father wanting to put her in the castle and train under the current king, the last true king of Qerravale before its demise: Tydel. Aria's interests however lay with something more "exciting." What had always intrigued her, besides her talent for singing, were the protectors of Qerravale, the greatest fighters of the sixth century: the Mythic Knights!

Upon their formation, the first Knights were praised by the villagers. When she had free time, she tried to train in secret, mostly at night in the woods in her own little private area. What she didn't realize was that the Knight Ranger Base, the Mythic Knights' home, was in those very same woods. She had set up a mini training course in the woods. There were benches made from logs, dummies set up with targets on their chest, and other things hanging from the trees. Aria stood on one of the logs, walking along it to teach herself balance. She wore a red vest atop a brown tunic and leather pants resembling sweatpants. Her tail swayed gently and her ears twitched in the wind.

"What are you doing out here?" said a voice.

Aria almost jumped and turned around, losing her footing. She almost fell onto the ground but was surprised to find she had been caught by a certain male with spiky white hair.

"U-umm…" for once Aria was at a loss for words. "W-well I was just, um, working o-on…uhh…"

The male helped her up and stepped back, looking to the little training area Aria had set up. "Working on…what? Training?"

Aria rubbed the back of her head, not giving him eye contact yet. "Training? W-what would I need training for?"

The male smiled. "Look, it's not really my business. I like it though. It must have taken you awhile to set it up."

"Heh, well not really. There wasn't much physical labor in this, thank my mother." She said with a giggle, rubbing her arm. "Have I seen you somewhere before, stranger? You look familiar."

"Can't say I've gotten that before." He replied.

"Wait…" Aria approached him and walked around him before stopping in front of him. "You're…Sondre, right?"

Sondre nodded. "And you're Aria, Aliana's daughter."

"How did-?!"

"My father is close friends with your mother. Xavious had consulted Terretto and wanted his help to create your mother." He said with a light smile, extending his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Aria smiled and took Sondre's hand but blushed upon seeing him lay a gentle kiss on her hand.

"Well aren't you a charmer." said Aria. "I didn't know the Red Knight knew about me."

Sondre blinked. "How do you-"

"My mother knows who you are." she giggled. "Don't worry, I won't go spilling your secret to the village."

"I doubt you would. Connections or not, what's stopping me from taking you to get your mind wiped?"

"Because I want to be a Knight!" she said, almost regretting what she said.

Not often was Sondre stunned. "…you want to be a Knight? Why?"

"If a woman can become a Knight, then why can't I?" Aria's hand planted onto her hip. "Nothing is impossible here. With just magic alone and with my mother, I've seen normal people, people with no gifts or super powers BECOME heroes. They would risk their lives, all in the sake of justice…and all I've ever really wanted was to meet them and thank them in person."

"We're not celebrities. It's not in our nature to share the spotlight for our achievements. And if the attention and fame is why you seek to be a Knight, your head is up in the wrong clouds."

Aria frowned and went over to one of the training dummies. "I can fight though. I'm not a trained warrior but I can hold my own."

Sonde looked to the dummy and then to her, walking to the side and turning to her. "I'll be the judge of that."

Her ears perked as she decided to walk across from where Sondre stood. Sondre watched her and motioning for her to get into a stance. Aria was cautious but made the first move, throwing a punch at him. Sondre watched her and dodged the attacks, swaying his body to evade the punches. He eventually countered by grabbing Aria's arm and twisting it, sweeping her leg from under and knocking her down. Aria immediately got up and aimed kicks which got blocked. Sondre went on the offensive and Aria watched, blocking each attack and actually grabbing his arm and taking him down, forearm to his neck. Sondre rolled and this time they exchanged counters, going through chains of counters before Aria caught Sondre and pinned him momentarily.

"…impressive." said Sondre, watching her eyes. "Did you wish you could fight like this?"

"What good is having all the skills in the world if you don't know to use them, right?"

Sondre nodded, getting up and noticing two practice swords. "…how good are you with a sword?"

"Let's find out against something real." said Aria, grabbing one of the swords.

The two duelded against one another, testing eachother's strengths and weaknesses, Sondre getting the upper hand several times. Aria pushed back and tried several slices, knocking Sondre back, but he was quick to disarm her, pointing the blade at her. Aria was about to make a move but nodded and lowered her weapon.

"So?" she asked. "How'd I do?"

"It can be easy to train someone. It's like giving someone a set of instructions but there needs to be raw ability, raw talent that can be molded into something useful." Sondre folded his arms. "Not everyone is capable of that. Hand to hand you have skill, by a sword there is room for improvement."

"Then maybe I'm worthy of at least more? If I can hold my own, does that mean something?"

He shook his head. "Not something you can just wish."

Aria flashed a toothy grin. "Oh I think I can. I could wish you had no hair right now. I'm sure the almighty Red Knight could at least give me a tour?"

"…touche." Sondre paused. "Unfortunately I may have to decline."

Aria's ears went down. "Wait, why would you decline? You're not going to just mind wipe and leave me are you?"

"If you're really that intent on at least MEETING the others, you're gonna need a scroll of consent."

"A scroll of consent? I'm almost 18 though. My birthday's tomorrow."

"You could be forty-three but you need your parent's consent. That's what we had to do for the other Knights. You get that signed; I can at least guarantee you'll MEET some of the Knights."

Aria nodded. "Right…and I'll take what I can get."

~!~!~!~

Later that night Aria had returned home. She was about to announce her In the kitchen were two people: a male and a female. The female had long flowing black hair and bright green emerald eyes. Her fox ears twitched with the breeze as did her elegant tail. She wore a teal dress with gold bangles on her wrists and a glowing sapphire necklace. The male wore a brown vest over a darker brown tunic and brown pants, held up by a black belt around his waist.

"She isn't a child anymore, Grey." said Aliana. "Her birthday is tomorrow. She won't be so little…she'll be eighteen."

"Age is just a number." said Grey in an authoritative tone. "My daughter will not—"

"OUR daughter."

"…will not be held on a pedestal for doing nothing. She has an incredible gift but only now is she realizing what she can do. And what does she do?" he pointed outside. "Fireworks for the children and spells designed to amaze and dazzle others? She's not some jester for their amusement!"

Aliana smiled. "It's her choice. She wants to show them that in these dark times there IS something to hope for; something that can at least bring a smile to their face. You should be proud of her, Grey."

"Who's to say I'm not?"

"I say." She said, putting her hands on his shoulders and looking into his eyes. "She's a free spirit, love. Just like me. All she wants to show what real magic can do, not some cheap tricks. Anyone can do those. I never used any when we first met now did I?"

"You stole my heart." He said with a smirk. "Was that a trick?"

"…one exception." She said with a light giggle, kissing him gently. "You're a hard person to please. When I look past that heart of stone, do you know what I see?"

"What?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

"I see someone who enjoys the wonders of this world and a father who wants to see her daughter succeed, regardless of how she uses her powers. Who knows what the future can hold for us or for Aria?"

Grey nodded and turned his head slightly to see Aria walking into the room.

"Going out for a jog?" joked Grey.

"Not at all, father." she said with a smile, turning to her mother. "You should have been by the lake this morning, mother. I finally mastered that flare spell you taught me! The children loved it, I made the flares into different animals, harmless ones of course! I haven't seen them happy in a while."

"Well that was very nice of you, Aria." said Aliana.

"You shouldn't be abusing your powers like that." said Grey. "I thought we talked about this?"

"It's not abusing, father." replied Aria. "I just wanted to bring something to make them smile. That's not so wrong is it?"

Grey paused. "…I am only concerned. What happens one day when your magic runs out? There has to be limitations to what you use magic for and wish for, right?"

"Only through dark magic…and the rules that apply for me that apply to her." said Aliana. "Anyway, did you stop by the castle like I asked you to?"

Aria nodded and tapped her bag hanging loosely off her shoulder. "Of course. I checked out the library you wanted me to."

"And?" asked Grey.

"It's…big?" she said, giggling lightly. "The lady there was very nice. She seemed a little cranky at times though. She mentioned something about thieves roaming around the woods. Why they would want to sneak in to steal some dusty old books confuses me."

"Taking care of books is important." said Grey. "They hold all the knowledge in the world you will need to be a mage or a sorceress one day."

"…actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." said Aria.

She dug into her bag and pulling out a scroll, showing it to her parents. Grey opened up the scroll and looked through it, eyes widening before Aliana noticed.

"…a scroll of consent from Grand Master Terretto?" asked Aliana.

"Father, mother, I know both of you have wanted me to work in the castle under the king and learning more magic…but I want to try something else." Aria took a big breath and crossed her fingers behind her back. "…I want to train under Terretto to become a Knight!"

"Absolutely not." was Grey's answer. "Do you know what the Mythic Knights fight, Aria? Demons, monsters, things you wouldn't believe."

"I've seen them though, father!" replied Aria. "They're the most incredible things I've ever seen. What good would I be kept up there when I could be doing something exciting?"

"She does have a point." said Aliana.

"Ali?" asked Grey.

"Aria, sweetie, there's far more to being a Knight then just taking on danger." said Aliana. "Terretto is a personnel friend of mine; he trains only the strongest fighters to go against demons and dark magic. Is that really something you think you're ready for?"

Aria paused for a moment but then nodded. "I want to do this."

"I will not risk losing my daughter to some freaky monster." said Grey. "You and your mother are all that I have left. I wouldn't trust that old man with the life of this whole kingdom."

"But he's their leader!" said Aria. "I got to see them come together to save the world! Who wouldn't want to be a part of that? I know I don't look like the perfect fighter but…if I had to choose between books or a sword, I think you know what I would pick.

Grey shook his head. "Aria…"

"It's her choice, dear." said Aliana, touching Grey's shoulder. "And I for one wish to be her first supporter."

"Please, father?" asked Aria, putting her hands together. "I'll do anything you ask in return. Anything. And I know all this seems sudden but I've thought about this for a long time."

Grey looked to Aria and looked to Aliana, eyes finally resting on the scroll. Though he was reluctant, he opened the scroll and looked for a quill. Aria almost jumped with excitement and took the scroll back, looking it over.

"Thank you, father!" said Aria, hugging her father closely and running off with the scroll.

Grey shook his head and looked to Aliana. "Do you truly trust this, my love?"

Aliana watched Aria leave and nodded. "I do. I sense her future will be bright, no matter where it may lead her…"


End file.
